


born to love and be loved

by Silverine



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Birthday Fluff, Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Established Relationship, Garrison Instructor Lance, I'm a Keith stan first and a human being second, Keith's birthday 2019, M/M, Post S8, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 01:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21153221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverine/pseuds/Silverine
Summary: It's a bit weird that no one has called Keith to pester him about his birthday yet. Not that he minds, really, but... isn't this his first birthday since he started dating Lance? Didn't he use to be the first one to greet him every year? Why not today...?For Keith's Birthday, 2k19 - and forever.





	born to love and be loved

**Author's Note:**

> A bit late, but this one goes for my baby Keith. I just love him with all my heart.

Keith is not one to be worried about stuff like birthdays, really. In fact, he doesn’t even like them very much. Well, at least not his _own_ birthdays.

It’s not that he inherently hates them; it’s more like he had to teach himself to not care when he lost his dad and, with him, the joy of celebrating them. Because remembering those parties his dad threw him at home, with small cakes they’d eat right away, or that time he and his fellow firemen took him on a ride around the town in one of their biggest trucks while singing happy birthday to him, or when they visited a beach together as his gift and Keith saw the sea for the first time… all of that was way too painful to remember in the loneliness of his bed at that grey institution that never felt even close to home. 

So, as a coping mechanism, he took those memories and shut them inside his hardened heart, and with them, he also sealed any enthusiasm for celebrating the day a woman he never met brought him to this unfair world without even asking for his opinion— quoting his own thoughts regarding the matter during his turbulent adolescence. His dislike for the date lasted even after he met Shiro, meaning he only reluctantly accepted his gifts or badly concealed attempts to trick him into ordering special food for his birthday, still not ready to receive such kindness, and much less to get used to it— which was actually wise, considering what happened not much later.

Therefore, it seems ridiculous that now, being a grown-up man almost in his thirties, a former paladin of Voltron, and the leader of an intergalactic organization, he’d do something as childish as checking his phone waiting for it to show the message saying “Earth Date: October 23th - 00:00 hrs (GMT-7)” every few minutes or so. Maybe not only ridiculous. Maybe also kinda pathetic.

The thing is, since a few years ago, he has been forced to drop his habit of ignoring his own birthday by his very nosy, very **noisy** found family. It started aboard the Castle, when the Alteans learned humans also celebrated the day they are born according to the local calendar, much like them, and they were delighted to include the paladin’s birthdays among their forced and reinforced customs. He didn’t like the idea at all, of course. However, due to his good (or bad, depending on how you look at it in perspective) luck, he only got to celebrate the other’s birthdays that first year— for his own, he was out with the Blade already, and they didn’t make a fuss over such things, understandably more into celebrating staying alive rather than the effortless feat of… well. Being born. 

Then, after two years aboard a space whale, he lost the notion of time for a good while, and since war was at its peak, it took at least a couple of years until he was confronted for the first time ever with an unsolicited birthday party from his friends, which turned out to be an absolute mess. Everyone had to run to make it in time through their busy schedules, and they also invited his mom and the confused—but _very _enthusiastic— Blades too. The result? A very chaotic celebration that luckily no one remembers all that well, but was indeed enjoyed by everyone, or so they say even today.

And since that iconic party he had to get used to being visited, being invited for dinner depending on where he is or just have people fussing over his birthday on the phone, whether he likes it or not, each year without fail.

But, more than anything, he got used to having Lance fussing over it, and that may or may not be the real reason why he decided that being reminded he's one year closer to die is not actually _that _bad.

From the beginning, Lance was usually the first one to call and wish him a happy birthday, or the first one to arrive when Shiro and Curtis took the tradition of throwing him a party at their house if time and circumstances allowed it, which always made his heart go crazy in his chest. Back then, hopelessly pining over him, the smallest attention from his fellow ex-paladin felt like an injection of pure life.

So, now that they are a couple, Keith expected… well, he doesn’t know exactly what he expected. But after three days of generalized radio silence and being almost the end of the 22nd already (Earth time), Keith feels… _ disappointed_?

_ ‘Stupid’_, he chides himself while turning his attention back to the long list of supplies he came to count all alone, since apparently even his fellow Blades noticed his foul mood and decided to leave him to it in the solitude of their newest depot, suspiciously hurrying to do other tasks or retreating to their barracks. 

_ ‘Very stupid’_, Keith is thinking, ashamed, when he hears it.Stealthy steps coming from the entrance, then sliding behind one of the boxes, and then to the next. 

It’s not what any of his brothers would do, not a normal way of approaching him, and given some traumatic past experiences, he immediately thinks the worst. His instincts tell him to stay in place, his hand silently reaching for his blade. His ears and eyes try to follow the soft steps and the shadow projecting in a corner of the room, to detect any change in the breathing of his assailant, any sound of a laser charging before being pointed his way…

But then, when his heels are turning for him to face the threat, in one split second he distinguishes the familiar smell and stops his hand from activating his marmorian blade, dropping it instead, right on time to find himself face to face with no other than Lance, dressed in his Garrison pilot suit, arms stretched and eyes quickly going to the falling blade, also in sudden realization.

“Holy shit!” he exclaims before stopping so abruptly from jumping into Keith’s arms that he loses balance and almost trips, being held still by his boyfriend who can’t believe his eyes.

“Lance?” asks Keith, out of breath, heart beating fast.

“Who else?!” grumbles Lance, taking a hand to his chest and exhaling. “Way to welcome your loving partner, man, what the hell!”

“Sorry, I— I didn’t expect—”

He is so surprised his voice barely comes out, and Lance blinks quickly before throwing his head back.

“No, no, no, wait. You’re right. Of course you’d get scared, what was I even thinking,” he says, slapping his own face and sliding his hand down it, a blue eye with an apologetic expression appearing between his fingers. “I’m so sorry, babe. I just wanted to give you a surprise.”

It’s funny that almost a year since they started going out, he’s still not used to be called with pet names. Blushing, Keith stutters:

“W-well. You did?”

Lance drops his hand, tilting his head. Then he laughs heartily, hugging him tightly.

“Yeah, I guess I did! Mission accomplished!” he exclaims. Then he lifts his head from Keith’s shoulder to stare at him and smile, as he adds, “Happy birthday, Samurai.”

Keith lets out a breath halfway to laughter before he closes his eyes and puts his forehead against Lance’s, sighing. With the adrenaline going down, a warm feeling spreads from his chest to every corner of his body. A sensation of wellbeing and relief, as Lance completely wipes off any previous sour mood. That sensation is called happiness, he realizes. Happiness in its purest state. 

When Lance’s arms surround his neck he leans for the deep kiss he is being offered and that happiness upgrades to euphoria. His hands slide down until they reach his boyfriend’s waist and stay there, holding him tight as if to convince himself he’s truly having the privilege to kiss Lance during his birthday, in a colony far from Earth, rejoicing in the softness of his lips and the taste left in his mouth when they break apart enough to smile at each other before a succession of quick pecks, with Lance caressing his cheek with his thumb and staring at him, unmistakably endeared by the view.

“How come you didn’t guess it, though?” he asks in a husky voice that holds a lot of promises and goes right to Keith’s navel area. “I didn’t call you in three days, did you think I’d just forget your birthday or what?”

Was that one of those legendary trick questions you absolutely shouldn’t answer with honesty, or...?

“No…?” answers Keith, doubtfully, and Lance snorts.

“_Y__ou did_! Oh my god, Keith, it’s almost like you don’t know me! I’ve told you a hundred times that birthdays are like—”

“Holidays for you, I know,” completes Keith, nuzzling him.

He really is stupid, how could he even doubt Lance? His boyfriend slides a hand under his hair, rubbing his nape.

“I’d never forget, babe. Yours is my biggest holiday now. More than Christmas. More than _ Halloween_, which, by the way, has been completely dropped in favor of your birthday. If that isn't love…”

“I know,” says Keith, smiling so much it almost hurts, and raising his head to take Lance’s face between his hands. “And I love you too. Thank you, babe.”

Under the spell of his euphoria the word just rolls off his tongue and it’s Lance’s turn to go beet red, opening his mouth in surprise. He quickly closes it, though, when an alarm starts beeping in his pocket. He takes his phone and shows it to Keith.

“See? I wanted to be the first one to greet you! I even convinced the others to wait until tomorrow morning to come, and since they can’t keep a secret I asked them to not call you, sorry if you felt a bit neglected…”

“They are coming here tomorrow?” asks Keith. Lance opens and closes his mouth again. Then he scrunches his face.

“Aaaand I just ruined the surprise party. And I owe Pidge 20 bucks, goddammit.”

“Figures,” laughs Keith, absolutely charmed and not bothered at all. It’s not possible to be bothered by anything right now, honestly, not with Lance growling in his arms, throwing his head back and then staring again at him with those pretty, flirty blue eyes.

“Whatever. I wanted to arrive earlier than anyone so I’d have time to give you your gift.”

“Really?” asks Keith, voice tinted with a certain impatience now. Lance notices and smirks at it, sly and tempting.

“Yeah. So if you could kindly take me to your private quarters now…” His voice lowers to barely a velvety whisper. “You know, unless you prefer to open it right here? Didn’t think you’d be the type to be into that, but— ”

Quickly catching on that, Keith has to stop himself from sweeping Lance off his feet and carrying him out of the depot all the way back to his living quarters bridal style. Instead, he just grabs his hand and almost runs to the door, with Lance’s laughter echoing behind him.

No one is there in the way back, not even Kosmo, and he understands they are all in the surprise which, even among his heated thoughts, makes his heart swell with gratitude and almost unbearable joy. 

His Blades, his wolf, his mother, his friends, they’ll all be with him to celebrate another lap around the Earth's sun, another collection of days lived and actually enjoyed. For a moment, he thinks about those distant days of his childhood, when he felt loved and his dad always reminded him how happy he was that they had each other, that his birth was really something to celebrate and commemorate.

He gets it now, at last. Surrounded by loved ones and with the gift of having Lance in his arms until morning, he finally understands what a joy it is to have been born into this vast and chaotic universe, full of surprises, to love and be loved for the rest of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading. This was written as a way to disconnect for a couple of hours from the chaos reigning in my country, so today all I ask is that if you are aware of Chile's current situation, please keep us in your prayers if you are a religious person, and in your mind if not. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this short piece, if you did so, please let me know! Hugs~


End file.
